Patch 2.3 thoughts

Predictions for the effects of Patch 2.3 on the Druid Community:

1) The change to Heart of the Wild (HotW) means that a new calculation of the trade-off between Strength and Agility needs to be performed. Overall, druids are having AP increased, while Strength is nerfed. The biggest increase in AP will come from increasing +AP in Feral Form on weapon, which will also receive an additional 10% increase from HotW. Currently, it is thought that Str = Agi on a point-for-point basis, though the analysis that established this relationship my have underestimated the DPS increase of critical strikes (adding two combo points with Improved Sharpened Claws) and therefore underestimated the value of Agility.

2) The changes to Intensity and +Heal contributing toward +Spell Damage make:
-Tree of Life builds better DPS when solo and PvE
-may allow Moonkin and Dreamstate builds as healing options earlier in the game, as Resto builds are currently unbearably slow.


Here are the changes as reported by Blizzard:

Good for Tree of Life:
-Cure Poison and Abolish Poison are now usable in Tree of Life Form.
-Cure Poison, Abolish Poison and Remove Curse range increased to 40
yards.
-Intensity (Restoration) increased to 10/20/30% mana regeneration.
-Tranquility now gains additional benefit from spell damage and
healing bonuses.

Good for Feral:
- Feral Attack Power: Items that granted bonus attack power in Cat,
Bear, Dire Bear, and Moonkin forms have been re-evaluated. In almost
all cases, the attack power on the item has been increased. This
change corrects an issue where feral weapon damage was not keeping up
with other classes in its rate of increase.
- Heart of the Wild: This talent no longer provides 4/8/12/16/20% bonus Strength in Cat Form. Instead, it provides 2/4/6/8/10% bonus attack power.

Good for Moonkin:
-Force of Nature: This ability will no longer automatically break
stealth on victims in its casting area. Nearby stealthed characters
may still be attacked if they are too close to the summoned Treants.
-Intensity (Restoration) increased to 10/20/30% mana regeneration.
-Remove Curse is now usable in Moonkin Form.

Good for All:
- Rebirth cooldown reduced to 20 minutes, from 30 minutes.